A new form of treatment for follicular lymphoma – a common blood cancer – has recently been approved in Canada, thanks, in part, to the assistance of 85-year-old Bill Bailey of Sechelt.
Bailey was one of 99 patients in Canada chosen to take part in the Phase III Gadolin Study, which aimed to prove the benefits of a drug called Gazyva.
The study enrolled a total of 396 patients with follicular lymphoma from 14 different countries who were resistant to regular treatment.
Bailey didn’t realize he had lymphoma until about six years ago when he was on vacation with his wife Evva in Hawaii.
“I had been getting short of breath continually before that, but I just thought it was old age,” Bailey said.
“But it got extremely bad, so I went to emergency at the hospital in Hawaii.”
Bailey said the doctors did a “fantastic job” running tests and checking him over, and it was a doctor there who ultimately told him he had non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which can cause fluid to amass in the lungs.
The hospital scheduled him an appointment with a specialist who ended up removing “a couple of litres of fluid” from one side of his lung cavity. Two days later he’d need the other side drained as well.
Once back on the Coast, Bailey met with his oncologist, Dr. Sarah Wadge, and planned to start treatment, but a minor heart attack landed him in Vancouver General Hospital for three weeks.
“They couldn’t do much during that time, so they just kept draining my lungs,” Bailey said.
“All together, over the whole period of time, they took off about 34 litres of fluid from my lung cavity. No wonder you can’t breathe.”
Once he finally got back to Sechelt he was put on the chemotherapy cancer treatment regimen that was the standard for his condition.
“The protocol called for six treatments. I got five in and I was just … let’s put it this way – people thought I was going to be gone,” Bailey said.
“Every week I had to go and get fluid taken off my lung cavities and I just couldn’t breathe. Dr. Wadge was the one who said ‘this just isn’t working. I have an idea. There’s a clinical study and I’m going to go see if I can get you on that.’”
Bailey was accepted into the study for Gazyva. He would travel to the BC Cancer Agency once a month for two-day intravenous treatment sessions.
“The first day I would go in for about two hours and the next day it would be pretty well all day,” Bailey said. “After the very first treatment, the fluid stopped coming in my lungs. Absolutely stopped dead.”
He was part of the trial for almost two years and is now living a life without the presence of cancer, although lymphoma specialists don’t like to use the term cancer-free, as it often reoccurs.
Results from the Gadolin study show Gazyva helps produce “progression-free survival for a median of 29.2 months,” compared to 13.7 months without it.
Bailey credits the drug, but more so the BC Cancer Agency for giving him a new lease on life.
He’s been speaking about his experience at events and to reporters whenever the agency asks him to.
“They saved my life so I’ll do anything they want,” Bailey said.
He encourages others resistant to the regular treatment for lymphoma to talk to their doctor about Gazyva, which was approved for use by Health Canada on Dec. 29, 2016.
